Neptune lay in cold dominion at the farthest edge of the Sol System, a distant giant cloaked in cobalt storms and perpetual twilight.
Its vast gravity well pulled at the debris of forgotten ages, broken stations, silent ship hulks, and drifting relics of Old Night. This place had once been a frontier of human expansion. Now, it was a fortress.
The Emperor and the Imperial armada have come to bring it back into the fold. The Emperor standing on his ship looked through the view screen at the purple haze of the Immaterium.
"Mandeville point reached, translating to realspace. Gellar Fields cycling to standby." a vox sounded out throughout the ship.
The Emperor turned around, leaving his contemplation to move towards the strategy room.
Captains of the various Astartes legions, imperial navy captains, and Imperial guard generals were present waiting for the Emperor, some present others displayed in hologram.
He walked in with a contingent of his golden guard who immediately arranged themselves into different positions within the room.
The Imperial armada translated into realspace in disciplined waves, their emergence marked by brief flares of empyric distortion that faded into the cold vacuum.
At the center of the formation rode the ancient battleship Imperator Somnium. Around it formed a vast lattice of warships, Victory-class cruisers, Dictator carriers heavy with attack craft, Dauntless light cruisers screening the flanks, and countless escorts forming a living wall of steel.
"This world is a knot in the tapestry of Sol. Cut it. I will not have the Crusade's momentum stalled at its own doorstep." the Emperor said as he scanned the room.
"We have come to get our brethren back into the fold. Offer the terms of Compliance. Should they refuse the Light, they shall embrace the Silence. I have no patience for the stubborn."
He looked around the room as he finished his statement. Then his gaze landed on Aurelian Gaius Trajan
"You will offer assistance to ensure completion of the objective." Aurenlian drew his hand in a salute of acknowledgement.
After multiple planning and refining talks, the strategy for this war was finalized.
Orders began passing in silence. Engines flared. Ships gun batteries came alive, aligning their firing solutions towards the moons.
The Neptunian Compact revealed itself not with words, but with annihilation. They had already been aware of the expansion starting on Terra, and were determined to stop it here.
Orbital bastions hidden deep within Neptune's upper atmosphere ignited their weapons. Lance batteries stabbed outward, coherent beams of energy slicing across thousands of kilometers in an instant.
One Imperial frigate vanished, its hull cut cleanly in half before its reactor detonated. Macro-cannon shells followed, massive, armor-piercing rounds that tore through void shields with sheer kinetic fury.
The Imperial ships answered in kind. Recalibrating their weapons targets, they fired volleys of lance batteries at the defence weapons. Many also turned their targets to the surface of its orbiting moons.
The void erupted into chaos.
Neptune triggered its minefields, ancient and drifting, activated in cascading detonations. Entire squadrons were forced to break formation as proximity alarms screamed.
"Commence sub-orbital interception. Pattern Delta-Four." a vox transmission sounded out to every ship.
Fury interceptors launched in waves, their engines blazing as they wove through expanding debris fields, hunting for torpedo signatures and incoming bombers.
The Imperial response was immediate and methodical. Nova cannons boomed, each discharge a thunderclap that hurled compressed death across the void. One bastion dissolved under the impact, its void shields collapsing too late to prevent total annihilation.
This was not some weakling trying to hold independence. Through the scanners, biological signatures showed almost complete mutation of the residents of the moons triton and Laomedia, and even the orbital city Grylor.
This is no longer a battle of reintegration, it is a war of erasure. The mutant elements around this planet are too saturated, and need to be corrected.
Admirals adjusted formations with cold precision. Frigates surged ahead, clearing paths through minefields with sacrificial determination. Behind them, cruisers advanced in overlapping lines, their lance batteries coordinating fire into a single, devastating barrage.
Meanwhile far away in the Veridia System, Moon: Mora-Tau
"[Directive]: Complete system checks and prepare for initial voyage. Destination Halo Stars."
"[Aditional Directive]: Establish a forge world in that system. Achieve 20% Knight function within 2 sols, and begin establishment of mining operations"
A giant of a "man", Arch Magos Ferrum-Rho stood as he gave instructions to Magos Stark, the one in charge of his exploration fleet.
"[Query]: Arch Magos the cost-benefit analysis of this vector remains opaque. What logic dictates this shift?" Magos Stark asked
"[Response]: Information available suggests resource rich sector with probability of a sacred fragment." Arch Magos Ferrum-Rho's response made Magos Stark quiver.
He began to imagine himself being the one to locate the fragment. He is sure that he could be ungraded to an Arch Magos with such a discovery.
"[Response]: Reasoning acceptable, commencing planning and departure."
Ferrum-Rho looked at him with something of contempt. Ferrum-Rho's internal processors flagged Stark's ambition as a corruption in his logic-circuits. The Magos was a variable to be spent, not a peer to be elevated.
What he planned for him was not glory but a spot gap to what he wanted to acquire.
His first goal now was to negotiate with Ruler Hax on allowing him to search his planet for what he came here for in the first place. The panacea STC, based on his limited knowledge he believed it should be here.
Although he was not sure, he would take that gamble because the pay off would be greater than most things. This will also serve as his introduction to the primarch.
"[Query]: High King Mortian, provide an update on negotiations with Ruler Hax. State all parameters required for compliance" Arch Magos Ferrum-Rho voxed over to the High King.
"So far the conditions have not been excessive, they are within manageable range." After a brief pause the High King continued.
"The Ruler of the Hax-Territory is cooperative, yet his soul is weighed by greed. He seeks a tithe of our orbital sovereignty."
He has been beside this Arch Magos for more than half a century now, he understands a little how he thinks. Delays are one thing he does not tolerate.
"{Data processing}
{Effective Maneuvers Available}
{Processing…}
[Analysis]: Engagement parameters must be recalibrated."